Top 10 benefits of baking soda for your skin

Baking soda is a kitchen ingredient that is used in making desserts and other yummy treats. But that's not all that it does, we give you 10 reasons to stock up baking soda in your beauty cabinet as it can do wonders for your skin. From banishing acne to keeping your feet happy, and from eliminating body odour to lightening blemishes, here’s why baking soda is a must-have home remedy. We share the several benefits of baking soda and the right way to use it to enhance your beauty.

Baking soda for glowing skin

Glowing skin is a sign of healthy, youthful skin and isn't easy to achieve. Unless you eat healthy, have an impeccable skincare routine and get eight hours of sleep, adding a glow to your skin is not easy. However, natural ingredients that are packed with essential nutrients can come to your rescue. We use baking soda and orange juice to make this pack and their properties help boost the skin’s collagen and remove impurities. Oranges are packed with vitamin C that adds a natural glow in your skin while baking soda gently exfoliates the skin removing the layer of dead skin cells.

How to use it

Mix one tablespoon of baking soda with double the amount of fresh orange juice

Now evenly apply a thin layer of this paste on your face and neck

Make sure you wash your face before you do this

Leave it to dry for about 15 minutes

Using a wet cotton pad, wipe it off and then splash cool water to remove any residue

Use this pack once a week to remove dullness and add that much-needed glow into your skin

Baking soda for banishing pimples

The mild exfoliating property of baking soda makes it a wonder ingredient to help banish acne and pimples from your skin. It is safe to be used on the face as well after it is diluted with water. Baking soda helps dry out the pimple and its anti-bacterial property helps prevent further breakouts on your skin. If you have active acne, give this remedy a try but if your skin reacts, then stop the usage.

How to use it:

Take one teaspoon of baking soda and mix it with the same amount of water to make a paste

Clean your skin with a face wash and then apply this paste on acne

You can also use it on blackheads and whiteheads

Leave it on for two-three minutes and then wash your face with lukewarm water

Since this opens your pores, gently rub an ice cube on your face or apply a toner to close them and pat dry your skin

If your skin feels slightly dry, use a light moisturiser and make sure it is non-comedogenic which means it will not clog your pores

Use this paste twice a week to see visible reduction in appearance of acne

Baking soda for lightening dark spots

Have blemishes and spots on your skin? Baking soda can come to your rescue to lighten them. This is because baking soda has bleaching properties that help in fading away marks and spots on the skin. But because using baking soda as it is can be harsh, we mix it with another natural ingredient to make it suitable for skin application. In this case, we add lemon juice which is another natural bleaching agent.

How to use it:

In a bowl, add one teaspoon of baking soda and squeeze the juice of half a lemon in it

Mix the two to get a thick paste. Now on a clean and slightly damp face, apply this mixture

You can first cover the blemishes and marks and then use the rest to apply on the remaining areas

Leave it on for a couple of minutes and then wash your wash first with warm water and later with a cold splash

Pat dry the skin and apply a moisturiser with SPF

It is preferable to apply this at night as sun exposure after using lemon juice can darken to your skin

Use this once or twice a week to see visible changes

Baking soda for preventing blackheads

If you have oily skin, chances are, it is prone to pimples and blackheads that often show up on your face. And if you have large pores, the occurrence of these problems is even higher, making your face look unclean. Baking soda can help minimise this issue by closing your skin’s pores and also shrinking them slightly in appearance. This ingredient has astringent-like properties that help close the pores and prevent them from clogging with dirt that give rise to blackheads and acne. Here’s what you need to do.

How to use it:

Take one tablespoon of baking soda and add it to a spray bottle

Now fill it up with water and shake it well to mix the two

Wash your face with a cleanser and wipe with a towel, then spray the solution on your face and leave it on so that your skin soaks it

This will help close the pores. You can store the solution in the refrigerator so it works even better

Make this a part of your everyday cleansing ritual to prevent skin woes. You can apply your face moisturiser after using this natural toner

Baking soda for removing dead skin cells

Grime, dirt, pollution often settle on our skin and do not always come off with our regular face wash. To remove these tiny particles of dust, we need a more effective cleanser that cleans the pores and removes these impurities. A face scrub comes in handy for such skin woes. Baking soda helps exfoliate the skin that removes the dead skin cells along with these impurities.

How to use it:

Take one tablespoon of baking soda and half tablespoon of water

The idea is to make a thick, grainy paste so that it can exfoliate the skin so make sure that it does not get diluted with water

After washing your face, apply this scrub in circular motions, carefully avoiding the area around the eyes

Now wash off with regular water and then pat dry your face

Apply a moisturiser to avoid the skin feeling irritated

This scrub is not suitable for dry and sensitive skin but works best on oily to combination skin type

Use it once a week to keep your skin looking fresh

Baking soda for soft, pink lips

Unhealthy habits like smoking, licking your lips and even wearing long-stay lipsticks can harm your lips and darken their colour. While most of us have naturally pink lips, the shade changes when we do not take ample care of them. Sun exposure is another cause of dark lips. If you want to regain their natural colour, baking soda can help. We mix it with honey so that it is not too harsh on the delicate skin and also moisturises it in the process.

How to use it:

You need equal quantities of baking soda and honey and since it is for the lips, you do not need more than a teaspoon

If your lips are too dry, add more honey than soda

Mix the two well and then apply this on the lips, rubbing in small, circular motions

This will help exfoliate them and get rid of the dead skin cells

The honey will remove impurities and also add the much-needed moisture

Let this pack stay on the lips for a couple of minutes before you gently wash them off with warm water

Apply lip balm with SPF after the process

Baking soda for dark elbows and knees

Fair skin is not a measure of beauty, but even the fairest of women often have dark elbows and knees. If this difference in skin colour bothers you, you can lighten it by using this pack. We use baking soda and potato juice, both of which have natural bleaching properties. Since these areas have thicker skin than the face, anyone can use it safely without it being excessively dry. But we recommend using a moisturiser with SPF daily to keep these areas soft.

How to use it:

Peel one small potato and then grate it finely

Squeeze out its juice in a bowl and then add a teaspoon of baking soda to it

Mix well and then using a cotton ball, apply this solution on your elbows and knees

Leave it on for 10 minutes so that the ingredients can work their magic, and then wash under running water

Apply a moisturising sunscreen after the application

Use this remedy once or twice a week and soon your skin will look a shade lighter

You can also use this solution on dark inner thighs and underarms

Baking soda for ingrown hair removal

Ingrown grown hair is such a menace as it appears like a hard bump on the skin and refuses to go away until it is tweezed. Ingrowth is basically the hair growing inside the hair follicle instead of sprouting out which makes it difficult to get rid of it with usual hair removal methods like shaving and waxing. While it is difficult to completely stop the occurrence of ingrown hair, you can use baking soda and a few other ingredients to remove it. Mostly, women who have a thick hair growth or oily skin type are more prone to ingrown hair.

How to use it:

First massage castor oil into your skin where you have ingrown hair

Once the skin soaks the oil, wipe off the excess liquid using a damp cotton pad

Now mix baking soda with half the quantity of water to make a thick paste

Rub this on the affected area to exfoliate it. Using a tweezer, pluck out the ingrown hair with ease

Apply a cotton pad soaked in cold water to close the pores

The oil makes sure that your skin isn’t dry and irritated, while the soda helps loosen the hair from the follicle

Baking soda for eliminating body odour

Baking soda has several properties that make it such a wonder ingredient. If you are someone who sweats a lot and has body odour issue, baking soda can come to your rescue. This is because it has antibacterial property that kills the odour-causing bacteria. Baking soda also absorbs the excess moisture when you sweat and alkalises your body. This helps in not just controlling body odour, but also brings down perspiration.

How to use it:

Take a tablespoon of baking soda and mix it with equal parts freshly-squeezed lemon juice.

Once you have a thick paste, apply it where you sweat the most such as underarms, back, neck, etc.

Let it stay for 15 minutes and then hit the shower. You can also store this solution in a spray bottle and spritz it once a day before bath.

Do this for a week and then reduce it to every alternate day when you see it working.

Baking soda for soft feet

Our feet also need some TLC but we often don’t pamper them enough. In order to keep them looking pretty and feeling soft, we need to take care of them regularly. If you don’t want to go for elaborate pedicure sessions in a salon, you can use baking soda to soften the callus and even cleaning your toenails. The exfoliating property helps remove dead skin cells and soften your feet, while its antibacterial action keeps infection at bay.

How to use it:

Fill half a bucket with warm water and add three tablespoons of baking soda to it

Let it dissolve and then soak your feet in the solution for 10 minutes

Keep a pumice stone next to you that you can use to exfoliate the dead skin from your soul

Once done, wash your feet with regular water and wipe them dry

Then apply a moisturising lotion and wear socks so that they stay protected